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Obama defends Rice in face of GOP opposition

By DONNA CASSATA / Associated Press

Posted:
11/14/2012 12:27:22 PM MST

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama lashed out at senior Republican senators Wednesday over their criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice in the aftermath of the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya, saying they should "go after me" not her.

Setting the stage for a possible Senate confirmation fight, Sen. John McCain had vowed just hours earlier to take all steps necessary to block Rice's nomination if Obama taps her to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sen. Lindsey Graham said he didn't trust Rice.

A feisty Obama defended Rice.

"If Sen. McCain and Sen. Graham, and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me," Obama told reporters at a White House news conference. "And I'm happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador who had nothing to do with Benghazi and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received, and to besmirch her reputation is outrageous."

Within minutes, Graham's response made clear he wouldn't back down from challenging Rice's nomination.

"Mr. President, don't think for one minute I don't hold you ultimately responsible for Benghazi," the South Carolina Republican said in a statement. "I think you failed as commander in chief before, during, and after the attack.

"Given what I know now, I have no intention of promoting anyone who is up to their eyeballs in the Benghazi debacle," he said.

At issue are Rice's Sunday talk show statements five days after the attack on the U.

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S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. She attributed the incident to the outrage in the Arab world over an anti-Muslim video, not an act of terrorism.

The two lawmakers along with Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire are pressing for a special, Watergate-style select Senate committee to investigate the Sept. 11 attack. They complained that separate inquiries by various Senate panels will fail to get to the truth and a comprehensive probe "up to and including the president of the United States" was warranted.

They planned to introduce a resolution calling for the special committee on Wednesday afternoon. However, they face opposition from Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said a select committee is not necessary and any resolution by McCain and other Republicans was certain to draw Democratic opposition.

The three Republicans argued that numerous questions about the attack remain unanswered, among them what Obama's national security team had told him about security in Libya, what steps were taken by Clinton and where was the U.S. military.

The Capitol Hill news conference inevitably led to questions about Rice, and the lawmakers made clear they would oppose her selection.

"We will do whatever is necessary to block the nomination that's within our power as far as Susan Rice is concerned," said McCain, the top GOP senator on the Armed Services Committee and Obama's presidential rival in 2008.

Graham, who said this past weekend that he would oppose her, said Rice is "is so disconnected from reality that I don't trust her. And the reason I don't trust her is because I think she knew better and if she didn't know better than she shouldn't be the voice of America. Somebody has got to be paying a price around this place."

Opposition to Rice within the Republican ranks continued to grow. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, who poised to replace McCain as the top Republican on Armed Services, said in a statement that the U.N.

"During her time as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Rice has been the Obama administration's point person in pursuing liberal causes that threaten U.S. sovereignty," Inhofe said.

Graham said he has not been impressed with her work at the United Nations, contending that Russia and China have ignored the United States.
Graham said Rice is more of a "political operative" than a candidate to be the nation's top diplomat.

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